Robert Douglas

Robert Douglas, a stage and screen actor who made a career portraying swashbucklers and military commanders before turning to directing, died on Monday at his home in Encinitas, Calif. He was 89.

Mr. Douglas, who name was originally Robert Douglas Finlayson, was born in Bletchley, England. He made his acting debut at 16 and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art the next year.

By the time he was 21 Mr. Douglas had landed a featured role in an all-star London revival of A Bill of Divorcement and by 23 he was producing and directing plays in the city's West End.

He appeared with Sybil Thorndike in Kind Lady and Laurence Olivier in Last Enemy before moving to New York to star in the American production with Jessica Tandy.

Mr. Douglas made his film debut in 1936 in Over the Moon, starring Merle Oberon and Rex Harrison.

The son and grandson of commanders in the West Sussex regiment in England, Mr. Douglas was one of the first actors to enlist at the start of World War II, becoming a pilot for the British Royal Navy in 1939.

After his discharge in 1946 he produced, directed and starred in Lighten Our Darkness in London before moving to Hollywood, where he was placed under contract to Warner Brothers in 1947.

Thanks to his patrician good looks and debonair manner he soon became a popular supporting actor, appearing alongside some of Hollywood's biggest names in such action films as Adventures of Don Juan and Kim, which starred his friend Errol Flynn; At Sword's Point with Maureen O'Hara; The Talisman with Rex Harrison; Ivanhoe with Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Taylor and Joan Fontaine; Target Unknown with Gig Young; Desert Rats with Richard Burton; The Virgin Queen with Bette Davis, and The Fountainhead, starring Patricia Neal, Raymond Massey and Gary Cooper, one of Mr. Douglas's favorite films.

Mr. Douglas made his Broadway directing debut in 1956 with Ponder Heart, starring David Wayne.

He went on to direct several more theatrical productions before turning to television, where he worked as a director and producer on a succession of hits, including Medical Center, Quincy, Barretta, Columbo and The Streets of San Franciso.

He is survived by a son, Giles Finlayson of Encinitas, and a daughter, Lucinda Gabri of Scotch Plains, N.J.